Publication Date

Spring 5-11-2020

Abstract

The NSF-funded FACETS (Formation of Accomplished Chemical Engineers for Transforming Society, NSF Award 1623105) grant aims to transform the undergraduate engineering experience in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico to address attrition within engineering majors, especially among underserved populations (Brainard & Carlin, 1998). The UNM FACETS Design Identity & Beliefs survey, an assessment tool used as part of the research of the grant, generated the dataset used in this study. I performed several different statistical analyses on the dataset, including confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis. The information obtained from these analyses was used to shorten the survey by eliminating ten questions that did not cluster with other questions asking about the same construct. Regression analysis and ANOVA techniques were used to build a model to predict student persistence using both the longer and the shortened survey.

Degree Name

Statistics

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Mathematics & Statistics

First Committee Member (Chair)

James Degnan

Second Committee Member

Erik Barry Erhardt

Third Committee Member

Vanessa Svihla

Language

English

Keywords

Statistical Analysis, Survey, Undergraduate, Educational Research, Engineering Education, Student Identity, Student Beliefs, Design

Document Type

Thesis

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